BOO!

Meagan has been free of seizures for about a month and a half now.  It's been a blessing because I've really seen her blossom, smile more, and progress.  Wednesday night, she had a seizure for the first time in a while.  Afterwards, I noticed her right side seemed almost completely unresponsive and limp.  Normally that's her stronger arm, but if I picked it up it just fell down.  I also noticed the right side of her face wasn't moving as much either.  She fell asleep.  After she woke up, she seemed to be feeling better.  I talked to her and rubbed her hand - she looked at me and smiled a little but only with the left side of her face.  The right side was still very relaxed, as was her right arm. I was glad to see her smiling, but she really seemed knocked out soon after.  She fell asleep again for a much longer time, and when she awoke again, it seemed she had more movement back in her right side.  It was the first time she's reacted like this to a seizure so I double checked with her Pediatrician.  She suggested I call the Neuro to see what they said. 

The Neuro called back ASAP and told us that it was probably temporary paralysis from her seizure, but, considering Meagan has spiked a small bleed before, to watch it.  If it wasn't better later on, take her in and check it out to be sure.  The day went on and she still wasn't "herself."  Yes, she would slightly smile at me, but anyone who knows Meagan knows she is VERY smiley - ALL the time. No cooing either, and she is normally very loud.   She also was more subdued, and slept a lot.  She still wasn't using the right side of her body either over 24 hours later, so the Neuro called again to check and upon hearing how she'd been acting, said to come in and get it checked out.  Normally, we would have waited another day, but, it was about to be the weekend, AND we were leaving to go visit family out of town.  I'd rather her see doctors she trusts than someone new in a strange city. 

We took her in and her right side was examined.  The doctor said it did seem like paralysis but they wanted to check the cause.  She had a small issue show up in January on the left side of her brain on her scan - this are of the brain controls the right side of her body, so we needed to double check it wasn't impacting the seizures.  The results luckily showed everything looked ok and there were no bleeds - so the doctor told us he was confident it was most likely still the paralysis from the seizure.  He said normally it will clear up in 4 hours to 24 hours....but he would allow 4 days to see any improvement.   Her med dose was also increased to ward off anymore seizures. 

Today Meagan has been content, but still not back to her full self.  She is moving her toes and some fingers, but still not flailing her arm like she normally does, and still not bending or grabbing with it. She did have another seizure in her crib this evening when I was playing with her, but, I don't see any increase in the paralysis, so hopefully it is still improving.  She only had her first increased dose of meds last night, so we will wait and see how she does over the weekend. 

I can tell this is frustrating for her because the spectrum of her mobility right now is movement of her arms! She loves to hit her diaper, bat at toys, and grasp her hands together.  I actually saw her today looking over towards her right side, as if she was saying "Hello! Please work!"  She ended up at one point reaching over with her left hand, and grabbing her right arm trying to move it.    It was pretty incredible to watch - her willpower is so strong!  I'm trusting that in the next few days we see continued improvement.  I'll be watching her closely...we'll see if the new med dose kicks in to keep any more seizures away.  Hopefully we have no issues while we are visiting with the grandparents.

Meggy, you are so sweet! BOO seizures!!!